Overall crime down, murders up in San Diego

San Diego  The number of serious crimes continued to drop in San Diego last year, falling to levels not seen since 1969, when the city’s population was half the size it is today, Mayor Jerry Sanders announced Thursday.

“With all of the progress we’ve made, America’s Finest City is fast becoming America’s safest city,” said Sanders, who was the city’s police chief from 1993 to 1999.

The only serious crime that didn’t decline was homicide, from 29 murders in 2010 to 38 murders in 2011 — a 31 percent increase.

Even so, San Diego had the fewest murders and lowest murder rate among the nation’s 10 largest cities.

Gang killings at the beginning of 2010, as well as more family violence slayings and murder-suicides contributed to the spike in murders in the city. Three murder victims sustained their injuries in previous years but died in 2011, which also accounted for part of the increase.

While the total number of crimes decreased by 4.3 percent, the overall crime rate per thousand residents increased by a tenth of a percent — from 26.43 to 26.54. The slight bump is the result of population adjustments made last year, authorities said. The city is the eighth largest in the nation, with roughly 1.3 million residents, not including the scores of tourists who visit annually.

Police Chief Bill Lansdowne attributed the low crime to the city’s continued cooperation between police and community members, as well as a switch to intelligence-led policing over the past decade. That policing model uses statistics to map crime trends on a daily basis, predict where crime will go next and mobilize officers accordingly.

“Law enforcement polices much differently than it did 10 years ago, or 20 years ago,” the chief said.

Lansdowne said that is partly why the department is able to keep crime so low despite having 1.4 officers per thousand residents — a low ratio when compared to other big cities.

By comparison, Washington, D.C., which has less than half of San Diego’s population, polices at a ratio of six officers per thousand residents, he said.

But Sanders said San Diego’s good crime statistics don’t mean the Police Department can keep taking cuts, as it has over the past several years because of the city’s money woes.

The chief called the department “stable,” but Sanders acknowledged that there’s a “tipping point.”

The department began hiring again last year, with 19 officers who graduated from the police academy this week and 24 more to go into the next academy, Lansdowne said. He said the police misconduct scandals that plagued the department last year don’t seem to have affected recruiting.

The low crime numbers were of little comfort to the family of Timothy Bowden, who mourned the one-year anniversary of his slaying Thursday.

“I say to the mayor, come talk to my family and other families who lost family members last year. See how our lives have been affected,” said his uncle, Steven Bowden. “A lot of senseless death last year.”